Industrial or commercial machines may be readily programmed to perform one or more specific functions in accordance with a defined set of rules. For example, a conveyor system may be configured to recognize a presence of an object thereon, and to begin operating to cause the object to travel in at least one direction at a designated speed. Likewise, a commercial-grade oven may be programmed to cook foods for finite periods of time, or until the foods or an environment in which the foods are cooked within the oven reach a predetermined temperature set point. Thus, an industrial or commercial tool, apparatus or other machine may be provided with a set of instructions by a human operator or computer, and may begin to operate in a given manner, and continue to operate in the given manner in accordance with the set of instructions in the absence of any human or automatic intervention.
While an industrial or commercial machine may be programmed with code for performing one or more tasks, and may be triggered by inputs provided by humans or in response to timing signals or sensed signals, today's industrial or commercial machines or the computer hardware components or software modules operating thereon are limited in their ability to receive instructions for performing multiple tasks, or to adapt to changes in circumstances that may affect their ability to perform in accordance with such instructions. For example, cooking chicken to internal temperatures of at least 165° F., and cooking seafood to internal temperatures of at least 145° F., are generally recommended practices. However, while a commercial oven may be programmed to cook foods at predetermined temperatures or for finite periods of time, the commercial oven cannot distinguish between chicken and seafood, or recognize the different cooking requirements for each type of food. Similarly, a box containing porcelains or crystals should be handled with care, while a box containing baseballs does not usually require any particular handling instructions. Although a conveyor system may be configured to transport boxes of porcelains or crystals alongside boxes of baseballs, the conveyor system is unable to recognize that one box includes fragile items and another box includes durable sporting goods, or that each box has different threshold handling conditions associated therewith.
Instead, an industrial or commercial machine that is programmed or configured to perform a specific task must be reprogrammed or reconfigured, typically by a human operator, in order to perform a different specific task. Industrial or commercial machines typically may not easily be programmed to carry out multiple tasks based on varying disparate business needs or functions.